The present invention relates to a control mechanism for folding jump umbrellas and particularly a mechanism that employs the design of pushbutton and springs to extend and retract folding umbrellas.
Weather conditions often are unpredictable and capricious, and may change swiftly in a short time. To guard people from sudden rain fall, various types of automatic jump umbrellas have been developed and introduced on the market.
FIG. 1 illustrates a conventional jump umbrella which includes a pushbutton 1 to depress a hook blade 11 through a press plate for releasing the umbrella frame to extend the umbrella when in use. When to retract the umbrella, depress the pushbutton 1 to make the press plate releasing a latch element 12 which is fastened to cord such that the spring located on the umbrella frame will pull the umbrella in a folding state. However when the umbrella is being tied by a tie band, the umbrella frame could be abruptly extended by incidentally triggering the pushbutton 1. It even has the risk of hurting people. Hence to develop a more secured mechanism to prevent the umbrella frame from incidental extending is an issue remained to be resolved.
The primary object of the invention is to resolve the foregoing disadvantages. The invention aims to provide a control mechanism for automatic extending and retracting folding jump umbrellas. The control mechanism of the invention employs a pushbutton which may be depressed to release a lower runner from a latch stub of the pushbutton and allows an extension spring to move the lower runner towards the umbrella frame, and allows a clip leg of a control ring reaching the position of a latch element for extending the umbrella.
Another object of the invention is to provide a control mechanism that utilizes the pushbutton to depress the clip leg so that the latch element can be released from the harness of an elastic latch strip and disengages from a control means to allows the umbrella retracting under a retracting spring.
A further object of the invention is to provide a control mechanism that has a lower runner spring with a greater spring force than a control ring spring such that when the pushbutton is incidentally triggered while the tie band of the umbrella is fastened, the clip leg will be restrained from moving to the position of the latch element, and the umbrella frame will be not fully extended even the pushbutton is depressed.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a control mechanism that includes a control ring which has two symmetrical guiding channels on two opposite sides, a first step opening on an upper side and a second step opening formed at one end thereof for housing a control ring spring. Above the upper side of the control ring, there is a clip leg which has a round strut in the center to engage with the first step opening and two symmetrical latch lugs at two sides facing each other engaging with the guiding channels thereby to overcome the poor elastic and unstable conditions of the integrated forming plastic control ring.
To attain the foregoing objects, the control mechanism of the invention consists of a lower grip, an upper grip, a pushbutton, a control ring, a lower runner, a control means, and a center rod. The lower grip has a closed end and a cavity formed inside. In the cavity, there is a hollow anchor body which is spaced from the interior wall of the cavity and forms a gap therebetween. The upper grip is housed in the cavity of the lower grip and held in the gap, and has a button hole formed on an upper side thereof for housing the pushbutton. The pushbutton has a latch stub located on the bottom wall thereof. The control ring is located at one end of the upper grip and has two symmetrical guiding channels on two opposite sides, a first step opening on an upper side and a second step opening formed at one end thereof for housing a control ring spring. Above the upper side of the control ring, there is a clip leg which has a round strut in the center to engage with the first step opening and two symmetrical latch lugs at two sides facing each other engaging with the guiding channels. The lower runner is located at another end of the upper grip and has two symmetrical square slots formed on two opposing side walls, a third step opening formed at one end thereof for housing a lower runner spring and a sleeve, and a square opening formed on a lower wall thereof to engage with the latch stub of the pushbutton. The sleeve has two sleeve lugs at two sides to engage with the square slots of the lower runner. The center rod is mounted in the hollow anchor body of the lower grip and has an extension spring and a latch element located inside, and with the control means located in the front end thereof. The control ring, besides the two symmetrical guiding channels on two opposite sides, also has two symmetrical fingers extending outwards from two sides thereof in opposite directions.
The foregoing, as well as additional objects, features and advantages of the invention will be more readily apparent from the following detailed description, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings.